Posted on May 19, 2012.
BURRELL TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A submerged barrel containing human remains is still yielding more questions than answers about who the victim is and how the person was killed, a western Pennsylvania coroner said Thursday.
"Circumstantial evidence has provided a tentative identification" but dental records and other checks are necessary to confirm that and, even so, authorities weren't even willing to disclose whether they believe the victim is male or female, Indiana County Coroner Michael Baker said.
State police in Indiana, Pa. and Greensburg were continuing to investigate after a dive team located the barrel under a bridge in the Conemaugh River, near Blairsville late Tuesday. That's about 45 miles east of Pittsburgh.
State police did not return repeated calls Thursday, though they've previously said they began searching the area on Monday using information they that grew out of an investigation into a series of robberies and burglaries.
Police haven't supplied a timeframe for those crimes, nor said if anybody has been charged with them. They've yet to file charges in connection with the body, though they are treating the case as a homicide.
Still, Baker was able to say Thursday that the remains found in the metal, 55-gallon drum had likely been there for months, but less than a year. Asked about any clothing or other clues, Baker said, "There was nothing there identifiable that I would be able to say for certain if it was a man or a woman."
Baker refused to say whether the remains were intact or had been dismembered, and explained why authorities were being especially cautious in this case.
"Given the nature of the investigation and the uncertainties that circumstantial evidence can sometimes present, it makes it much more advisable to withhold any comment regarding identification, cause or manner of death, or other circumstances until all the facts are together," Baker said.
In general, if a wallet or other possible identification is found with an unidentified body, relatives of the wallet's owner would be notified even before the body's identity can be confirmed by other means, Baker said. But he's not saying if that has been done in this case, nor why it might not have been.
It's unlikely that police or the coroner will release more specific information about the body before the holiday weekend, Baker said.